Solar Sgii&III Report

REPORT OF SUB-GROUP II & III
ON
INTEGRATION OF SOLAR SYSTEMS WITH
THERMAL/ HYDRO POWER STATIONS
CENTRAL ELECTRICITY AUTHORITY

New Delhi – 110066
January’ 2010
Report of Sub-group II & III on “Integration of Solar Systems with Thermal / Hydro Power Stations”
CONTENTS
Sl. No. CONTENT Page No.

1 Background 2
2 About Solar Irradiation 4
3 Solar Generation Technologies 5
4 Solar Options for Power Stations 10
Technology Options 10
Possible Areas of Installation of Solar Plants 11
Integration with Thermal Stations on Steam Side 12
Sharing of Existing Facilities 14
Electrical Interconnection between Solar Thermal 15
and Conventional Stations
Electrical Interconnection between Solar PV 19
systems and Conventional Stations
Metering 20
5 Solar Power Plants in Hydro Power Stations 20
6 Tariff Projections – CERC Regulations 21
7 Conclusions 21
Annexure Annexure -1 Composition of Sub-Group 23
Appendices Appendix – I Solar Maps

Appendix – II Excerpts from Feasibility Study
for Solar Thermal Plant in NTPC
– Anta CCGT Station
Appendix – III Salient Features of 140 MW
Integrated Solar Combined
Cycle Power Plant
Appendix – IV Assumptions for generic
levelised tariff for solar power
plants as per CERC
Central Electricity Authority January-2010 Page 1 of 24

REPORT OF SUB-GROUP –II & III ON

“ INTEGRATION OF SOLAR SYSTEMS WITH
THERMAL/HYDRO POWER STATIONS”
1 Background
1.1 A Task Force was set up by the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy
(MNRE) under the chairmanship of Chairperson CEA, vide O.M. No.
32/61/2009-10/PVSE dated 28th May 2009, to examine technical issues
relating to feasibility of integrating solar power plants with thermal/hydro-
electric power plants and connectivity of solar roof top systems with grid.
Composition of the Task Force is given at enclosed Annexure-I.
The first meeting of the Task Force was held in CEA office on 18th June,
2009. During the meeting three sub-groups were formed as follows:-
Sub-group – I Grid interactive rooftop solar PV systems

Sub-group – II Integration of solar systems with thermal power stations
Sub-group –III Integration of solar systems with hydro power stations
This report covers the salient issues relevant for installation of solar
power plants in existing thermal and hydro power stations as referred to
Sub-Group-II and III. Report of Sub-Group-I on “Grid interactive rooftop
solar PV systems” has been issued separately.
1.2 The Terms of Reference of the sub-group –II and III are as follows:-
i) To examine feasibility of integrating solar based plants with

Thermal (Coal and gas)/Hydro-electric power plants including
issues relating to availability of land and effect of fugitive ash in
coal based plants.
ii) To suggest the feasible options for type of solar plants (PV solar
cells, solar thermal plants) for installation at thermal/hydro-electric
power plants.
iii) To examine the feasibility of hybrid solar power systems in
thermal power plants including use of secondary fuel firing or heat
storage devices during the period when solar power is not
available.
iv) To suggest scheme for connecting solar based plants with the
station electric supply system for thermal/hydro electric power
plants.
v) To suggest arrangements for metering and accounting for energy
supplied by the solar based plants.
vi) To suggest modalities of implementation for solar based plants at
thermal/hydro electric power plants including preparation of
project report

1.3 The composition of the sub-groups is given below:
Sub-group-II
i) Shri S. Seshadri, Member (Thermal), CEA - Chairman

ii) Dr. Ashvini Kumar, Director, MNRE
iii) Shri Lalit Kapur, Director, MOEF
iv) Shri A.K Gupta,. G.M, NTPC
v) Shri R.K. Sikri, GM, NTPC
vi) Shri Vishnu Gupta, G.M(I/C), BHEL
vii) Shri M. M Vijayvergia Executive Director RRECL
viii) Shri N.M. Mathur, Chief Engineer, RRVUNL
ix) Sh. Sanjay Sharma, Director, CEA – Member-Secretary
Sub-group –III
i) Shri Suresh Chander, Chief Engineer (TE&TD), CEA - Chairman

ii) Dr. Ashvini Kumar, Director, MNRE.
iii) Dr. S. Bhowmik Addl. Director, MOE&F
iv) Shri Vishnu Gupta, G.M (I/C), BHEL
v) Sh. M.K. Raina, ED(T&RE), NHPC
vi) Shri Ashok Thapar Director BBMB
vii) Shri Moti Lal Director , Hydro, CEA – Member-Secretary
1.4 Deliberations of Sub-groups –II & III
i) The sub-groups had three meetings on 16th July 2009, 6th August
2009 and 25th September 2009. Presentations on solar technologies
were made by various Indian suppliers developing solar technologies
in the second meeting of the sub-group on 6th August ’09. In the third
meeting held on 25th September ’09, presentations were made by
NTPC on the feasibility studies made for installation of a solar plant
at their Anta Combined Cycle Gas Turbine station. Visit was also
made to Bhakra hydro stations on 21.08.2009 for study of potential
for installation of solar power plant.
ii) This report of the sub-group –II & III has been prepared based on the
deliberations held in the meetings of the sub-group and various
presentations made.

2 About Solar Irradiation

2.1 Extraterrestrial solar irradiation follows in a direct line from the sun to the
earth. Upon entering the earth’s atmosphere, global irradiation is divided
into two components – direct normal component and diffused component.
The solar irradiation diffused by air, water molecules and dust within the
atmosphere is known as diffused component. The direct normal
irradiation component represents that portion of solar radiation reaching
the surface of the earth that has not been scattered or absorbed by the
atmosphere. The Direct Normal Irradiation (DNI) is the integral value of
direct normal irradiance over a certain time interval and its unit is J/m² or
kWh/m².
Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) or solar thermal technologies can only

use the direct irradiation. The second part, the diffused irradiation cannot
be converted into beam radiation and is thus not useful for CSP.
Generally sites with annual sum of DNI larger than 1800 kWh/m² are
considered as potential sites for CSP. The solar photo-voltaic (SPV)
technologies, however, utilize both direct and diffused irradiation for
electricity generation.
The DNI available at a certain site may be interpreted as “fuel-resource”

for a CSP plant and the annual sum of DNI as well as the seasonal and
daily distribution is very important for solar field layout and plant
performance. However, irradiance measurements are not common for
meteorological stations today and particularly long term measurements
from the past are hardly available. The main problem with DNI data from
any source is the accuracy, which is hard to determine. The validation
can only be done by a cross check of the data from different sources.
Some sources from where DNI data can be accessed are given below:
i) DLR has developed methods to derive DNI data from satellite

measurements. These services are offered under the name SOLEMI
(http://www.solemi.de/) at a cost.
ii) NASA Website (http://eosweb.larc.NASA.gov/sse/) where data tables

for a certain location and plots for a whole region are available free of
charge. The main differences between this NASA data and the DLR
satellite data are the different temporal and spatial resolution. The
NASA data contains only mean daily values for each month whereas
the DLR satellite data contains mean values for every hour of each
year. The NASA satellite data is derived from a pixel size of
30km×30km whereas the DLR satellite data is derived from a pixel
size of 3km×4km.
iii) The third source of irradiation data is a software tool called

METEONORM 6.0 (http://www.meteonorm.com/) which provides a
method for the calculation of solar radiation on arbitrarily orientated

surfaces and other meteorological data at any desired location with

hourly resolution.
iv) The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden

Colorado, USA has prepared a DNI map of Asia with a 40km
resolution for SWERA (http://swera.unep.net). This map does not
provide specific information but it may be used for further
investigation of potential CSP sites in India.
2.2 A few solar maps are appended at Appendix- I for reference. These
include global solar map of India for global radiations (source: TERI) and
DNI maps for Asia and North-west India by NREL.
3 Solar Generation Technologies

3.1 Solar power generation technologies can be broadly classified into two
broad types as under:-
i) Solar Photovoltaic technologies

ii) Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technologies
3.2 The Solar Photovoltaic technologies convert sunlight falling on to a

photovoltaic (PV) cell directly into D.C. electricity which is then converted
into AC by inverters. This technology has several variants based on the
type of photovoltaic materials used. Tracking and concentrating systems
are also used to focus sunlight on to the PV modules to improve the
system efficacy and enhance generation. Application of PV systems is
generally limited to rooftops on residential and commercial buildings,
though utility scale plants are also possible.
The Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) technologies have been covered in detail in

Report of Sub-Group-I on “Grid interactive rooftop solar PV systems”.
3.3 In Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants, also known as Solar

Thermal plants, solar energy is focused through various types of mirrors
to heat a working fluid and produce steam (directly or indirectly through
an intermediate heating fluid). Steam is then used to rotate a turbine or
power an engine to drive a generator and produce electricity as in a
conventional power block. CSP technology are better suited for utility
scale power plants as compared to SPV technologies.
These technologies are of following four types, characterised by the type

of mirror used to collect solar energy. A brief description of these
technologies is given below and their comparison is drawn in Table-I.

Parabolic trough is well established and most proven CSP technology

and commercial plants upto 80 MW size are in operation.
Parabolic trough shaped mirrors collect and reflect the solar energy onto
receiver tubes positioned along the focal line of parabolic mirrors.
Troughs are made to rotate on a north-south axis to track the sun from
east to west. Heat transfer fluid (synthetic oil), suitable for temperatures
upto 400 deg C, flowing through these receiver tubes is used to generate
steam through steam generators and drive turbine to generate electricity.
Solar Towers deploy numerous large number of flat sun tracking mirrors,
known as heliostats, to focus sunlight onto a fixed receiver mounted on a
tower. The heliostats tack the sun on two axes. The central receiver can
achieve very high concentrations of solar irradiation thus resulting in
extremely high temperature for the operating fluid. Most of the concepts
for solar tower utilize a Rankine cycle as power conversion process. Heat
of the absorber coolant is transferred in separate heat exchangers to a
water/steam cycle as in conventional steam power plants. Direct steam
generation, without any intermediate fluid, is also possible. Steam
parameters upto 100 bars and 560 deg C are achievable. Brayton cycle
is the focus of development to increase efficiency levels.

Spain has several solar tower systems operating or under construction.

Maximum size in operation is 20 MW. Most of the realized pilot and demo
solar tower facilities have thermal storage facility incorporated to improve
the dispatchability of the plant. Nevertheless these storage solutions have
the drawback of higher initial investment costs and higher land
requirements.
Linear Fresnel Reflectors technology uses a reflector made of several

slices of mirrors with small curvature approximating a parabola. Mirrors are
mounted on trackers and configured to reflect sunlight onto a receiver tube
fixed in space above these mirrors. These Fresnel reflectors offer direct
steam generation and thus omit intermediate high transfer fluid.

These systems have lower investment costs and also lower optical
performance as compared to parabolic trough collectors. This technology
is in developmental stage and some small experimental systems have
been realised.
Solar Dish The parabolic shaped dish tracks the sun, through a two axis
movement, continuously to gather the solar energy and point focuses the
same onto a thermal receiver (mounted at the focal point) to heat up the
fluid. Heat from the thermal receiver is used to produce electricity through
Stirling Engine.
Dish technology is modular and produces relatively small amount of

electricity compared to other CSP technologies – typically in the range of
10 to 25 kW which results in high capital costs. Distributed dish concept
with common power conversion unit was also adopted in eighties but is
not the focus of development any more due to heat loss during heat
transportation over long distances.

TABLE-I : COMPARISON OF CSP TECHNPLOGIES

Parameter Solar Thermal (CSP ) Technologies
Parabolic Trough Solar Tower Fresnel Reflector Solar Dish
(CFLR)
Site Solar Characteristics/ Solar Generally sites with annual sum of DNI larger than 1800 kWh/m²
radiation required
Land Requirement Typically 5-7 acres/MW
Typical shape of solar plant Rectangle Sector of a circle/ Rectangle Rectangle
Rectangle
3
Water Requirement Typically 4m /MWhr No water requirement
Maximum Temperature 400 deg C 270 deg C 400 deg C 800 deg C
Possible upto 560 deg C
Efficiency ~ 14% ~17% - ~ 22-24%
Possible upto 22%
Typical CUF Typically 22-25%
Plant cost Lower than parabolic trough Lower than parabolic trough Very High
Largest plant size 80 MW 20 MW 5 MW
Development Status Most proven Mature Demonstration Demonstration
Plants installed -9 SEGS plants (14 MW to 80 -Planta Solar 10 and Planta - 9MWth used for FW Small operational plants
MW) in California built from Solar 20 are in operation heating in 2000 MW coal with unit size of 10-25 kW
1985 to 1991 – Total capacity : with capacities of 11 and 20 fired Liddell Power plant
354 MW MW in Seille Spain (Australia)
- Nevada Solar One (64 MW) -Sierra Sun Tower USA 5 - Two small capacity
started in 2007 MW experimental plants in
- Solar Two plant (10 MWe) Spain in 2007
with molten salt storage- - 1.4 MWe at Murcia, Spain
demo plant in 2009
Technology Providers Sener Abengoa Austra Stirling Energy Systems

Solar Millenium eSolar MAN Ferrostaal
Abengoa Sener
ACS-Cobra BrightSource
Acciona Torresol
Solel Solarreserve

4 Solar options for Power Stations

Technology Options
4.1 From the discussions in the foregoing para, it may be seen that the
options for solar generation at any power station would depend upon the
following:
i) Adequate solar irradiation

ii) Availability of land
iii) Availability of water (for solar thermal)
4.2 As mentioned above, adequate direct normal component of solar

irradiation is necessary for solar thermal plants. Normally a solar
irradiation (DNI) of 1800 kWh/m2 is considered necessary for solar
thermal plants. Solar PV plants can, however, utilize global radiations
including diffused components. Thus solar irradiations available at a
location is the prime consideration for selection of technology.
4.3 About 5-7 acres/MW land is required for solar thermal plants. Thus
availability of large tract of continuous flat land would be required if solar
thermal is to be considered. When land is available in several scattered
patches, rather than a contiguous piece, then Solar photovoltaic plants
could be considered. Following considerations should also be kept in
view regarding land:
i) Land should be flat with 1-3% gradient or less.

ii) North- south orientation is preferred.
iii) Aspect ratio of land should be commensurate with the technology
Economy of solar thermal improves with scale of plant. For sites suitable
for higher size solar thermal plants, presently parabolic trough technology
is the most proven and widely deployed technology. For this technology,
50 MW plant would be ideal from techno-economics point of view though
lower sizes (10-20 MW) can be considered depending on availability of
land. NTPC have prepared feasibility report for a 15 MW plant at Anta
CCGT plant based on parabolic trough technology.
For solar tower technology, maximum 20 MW plant is operational. This

technology is available in 2.5 MW modules also. Fresnel reflector and
dish technologies are at demonstration stage and, if considered, can be
deployed for still lower sizes.
4.4 Solar thermal plants require water for cooling tower blowdown and DM
make up. Usually water requirement is 4 M3/MWh. Additionally, some
water is also required for washing of mirror panels and requirement
varies with location depending on dust levels.

4.5 In hydro stations large tract of continuous land are generally not
available. Also the hydro stations have no facilities for supplying warm up
steam etc to solar thermal power plant. Thus solar PV systems may be
the only choice for hydro stations. Details of solar PV technology are
covered in the Report of Sub-Group-I on “Grid interactive rooftop solar
PV systems”.
4.6 Solar thermal plants are sometimes provided with heat storage systems
to improve the despatchability. For this purpose, additional solar field is
provided to cater for storage which can then be used for generation
during off-sun hours; else storage systems can only facilitate shifting
solar generation from on-sun to off-sun period for peaking purposes etc.
Providing additional solar field for storage systems is not only expensive;
it would also require additional land for the storage system itself and also
for additional solar field. Storage systems constitute major cost of the
solar thermal plants, accounting for almost 70-80 % of the total plant
costs.
In the context of power stations, storage systems are obviously not

necessary. The limited objective of keeping the solar power generation
equipment in hot condition can be met by supplying steam to the solar
power plant from the auxiliary steam supply of the thermal station.
4.7 Hybrid plant operation has also been adopted to increase capacity
utilization of solar plant even without storage systems. The solar thermal
plants in California employ gas fired boilers to supplement power
generation during off-sun hours. Such an arrangement appears to have
been provided as a means to improve quantum and reliability of power
supply to the grid as these are large solar plants. One solar tower based
system has been commissioned in Kibbutz Samar in Israel which has 30
different heliostats tracking the sun and directing solar energy to the top
of a 30m tall tower. The tower also houses a micro-turbine that can be
run on solar thermal, as well as bio-diesel, natural gas or biogas,
particularly when the sun goes down.
Possible areas of installation of solar plants
4.8 The choice of areas for solar plants in existing Thermal Power Stations
could be:-
• Open land areas not intended for any future expansion

• Abandoned ash ponds in coal fired stations
• Areas in existing green belt subject to MOE&F approval
• Roof top of turbine hall (for PV systems)
• Roof top in administrative building, guest houses, and large
buildings (for PV systems)

4.9 The land chosen should be away from high dust areas like coal and ash
handling plants and their fugitive emissions. In case of abandoned ash
pond lands, suitable surface improvement may be required to prevent
ash carry over and deposition on solar field. Washing arrangement for
solar field would have to be provided commensurate with the expected
dust levels in the vicinity.
4.10 Land availability would vary at each plant. Land availability at two thermal
plants is indicated below as an example:
- 1000x700 M2 at Anta CCGT plant of NTPC

- Two plots of 1200 mtrX200 mtr and 600 mtrX 200 mtr at Suratgarh
Thermal power plant of RRVUNL.
NTPC have assessed the solar capacity of 15 MW at Anta CCGT plant in

70 hectare plot. Per MW area requirement is high because of gas pipeline
passing through the plant which cannot be relocated. It is estimated that
about 15 MW capacity can be installed in 36 hectare area available at
Suratgarh TPP.
Integration with Thermal Stations on steam side
4.11 Solar thermal plants generate steam from solar heat and thus
conceptually it should be feasible to utilize the solar heat (steam) in
existing thermal cycles of the coal or gas based stations to achieve fuel
savings and reduced CO2 emissions. This type of integration can result in
a) elimination of power conversion equipment (steam turbine generator
etc) for the solar plant thus reducing the cost of solar thermal plants and
b) increase the efficiency of solar thermal plant due to higher efficiency
of higher size steam-turbine generator.
4.12 Some plants of Integrated Solar Combined Cycle Systems (ISCCS) i.e. a
combination of solar field and fossil fuel fired combined cycle power
plants, are under construction but none is under operation. These
include:
i) 30 MWe parabolic trough field (130000 m² collector area) integrated

into a146 MWe CCPP at Kuraymat, Egypt.
ii) 20 MWe parabolic trough field (183000 m² collector area) integrated

into a 472 MWe CCPP at Ain-Beni-Mathar, Morocco.
iii) 25 MWe parabolic trough field (180000 m² collector area) integrated

into a 150 MWe CCPP at Hassi-R'mel, Algeria..
It is also feasible to integrate solar thermal with coal fired power plants.
One example of this integration, also the only one, is Fresnel reflector
technology based 9MW solar thermal plant integrated with 2000 MW
Liddle coal fired plant in Australia.

4.13 The possible areas of integration with thermal stations on steam side can
be identified as
i) Using solar steam for feed water heating
ii) Mixing solar steam with main steam inside boiler/HRSG or in pipe
en-route to turbine.
iii) Injecting solar steam directly in turbine at some intermediate stage.
iv) Separate back pressure turbine for solar steam and exhaust to
existing plant condenser.
Using solar steam for Feed Water (FW) heating may appear to be least
cumbersome as solar steam would not be fed to the turbine. However, in
coal fired plants, feed water heating is done partially in the regenerative
cycle and then the FW is fed to the economizer. Replacing or
supplementing regenerative cycle feed water heating with solar heating
would involve taking the existing FW heaters out by closing their
extractions and the adverse thermodynamic impact on the turbine cycle
heat rate would have to studied. Further, even physically installing the
solar steam based FW heaters in the turbine hall area and routing solar
steam pipes to the turbine hall from the solar field may pose severe
space constraints in view of compact and optimized turbine hall layout.
Also the additional pressure drops in FW circuit may necessitate
installation of additional FW pumps or augmenting boiler feed pumps
which may not be possible.
Heating FW after the regenerative cycle so as to have higher than design

FW temperature at entry to boiler thus reducing the economizer duty may
also not serve much purpose as in existing boilers it will only increase the
flue gas exit temperature thus increasing the flue gas losses and not
leading to any fuel savings. Besides, the physical constraints of installing
solar FW heaters and problem of meeting additional pressure drop in FW
circuit would remain. Similar issues are likely in using solar steam for FW
heating in CCGT stations.
Mixing solar steam to Main Steam would require special mixing

arrangement due to difference in temperature of solar steam and Main
steam. Also variation in solar irradiation over the day and during various
seasons may involve large variations in the solar steam quantity and
parameters thus leading to changes in aggregate steam quality to the
turbine. Fluctuating steam flow to the turbine and large variation in steam
parameters may involve stress implications on the Steam Turbine and
will have to be examined in consultation with turbine manufacturer.

Injecting solar steam in turbine intermediate stages is virtually ruled out in

existing turbines as the turbines have very little flow margins available,
primarily for operational degradations.
4.14 The feasibility of integrating solar power plant with existing station on the
steam side were also examined in the Feasibility study for solar plant at
Anta CCGT station got conducted by NTPC through Evonic, Germany.
The salient extracts of possible integrating options examined and findings
are given at Appendix-II. As may be seen, integration options involved:-
• Issues of mismatch of steam parameters of solar and

conventional power station steam, (especially under
fluctuation of flow and parameters of solar steam due to
fluctuation in solar conditions) and sub-optimal steam use
• Margins available in existing equipment to accommodate
additional steam flow from solar field
• Concerns about impact on existing performance of the
stations
It was finally decided to go for standalone 15 MW solar thermal plant.
4.15 Thus, integration on the steam side to the existing station is expected to
be too cumbersome. This may also disturb the existing cycle and involve
issues of performance reliability of the existing station. Thus, the solar
plants in existing TPS may be considered as a stand alone plant without
any inter-connection to the steam side of the station.
However, integrated solar plants with gas plants could be considered for
new stations depending on site specific factors for which site specific
techno-economics and feasibility studies would be required. It may not be
advisable to integrate solar plant with new coal based plants since
turbine-generators in coal based plants are of standard rating and there
would be no increase in the power output by solar thermal energy.
It may be mentioned here that a 140 MW Integrated Solar Combined

Cycle Power Power Plant with solar component of 35 MW and gas
turbine component of 105 MW was conceived at Mathania, Rajasthan.
CEA had given its techno-economic clearance to the plant in the year
1999. However, the plant could not materialize due to high prices of
Naphtha, non-availability of gas and some other reasons. Details of this
plant are given in enclosed Appendix – III.
Sharing of Existing Facilities
4.16 Even for a standalone solar thermal plant, the existing station facilities
would require to be shared with the solar power plant and it needs to be
ensured that appropriate provisions exist for the same in the existing

station systems. Typical station facilities required to be shared in case

of solar thermal plants are as under:-
• DM Water
• Circulating water make up
• Auxiliary steam
• Auxiliary electricity supply
• Fire fighting system
i) Solar thermal plants need DM water for the power cycle initial filling
as well as cycle make up. The typical make up quantity can be taken
similar to the conventional power cycle at about 3% of the cycle flow.
In addition, if the solar field washing is also required to be done by
DM water, the water requirement for same would also have to be
considered. Frequency of washing, quality and quantity of water for
washing would have to be ascertained from suppliers of solar field.
ii) In all probabilities, separate cooling tower would have to be installed

for solar thermal power plant. However, the circulating water
requirement would have to be met from the existing station CW
system.
iii) The solar thermal plant may need auxiliary steam supply for initial
warm up of the power plant island so as to enable faster start up of
solar plant.
iv) The existing fire fighting system would required to be extended to

cover the solar thermal plant also.
v) The issue related to auxiliary supply is discussed subsequently.
Electrical Interconnection between Solar Thermal and conventional Stations
4.17 Following options are available for integration of solar thermal power with
electrical system of existing plant.
Solar power connected to Generator bus of existing plant (Option-I)

Solar power connected to plant 6.6kV unit/ station bus (Option-II)
Solar power evacuation to grid through new switchyard bay
(Option-III)
The site specific interconnection scheme may be required depending on the

techno-economics of various options.
i) Solar power connected to Generator bus of existing plant (Option-I)
Generator voltage of solar thermal plant is likely to differ from that of

existing plant. Either solar generator is required to be customized as per

existing generator bus voltage level or is to be stepped up by a

transformer. Further, size of existing generator-transformer may not
have adequate margin to take up solar power also. In addition, following
issues will also need to be considered, if this option is to be deployed:
a) Feasibility of connection to generator bus from point of view of

availability of space.
b) Operation of solar plant in the event of tripping of existing unit
The scheme is shown in Exihibit-I.
OPTION - I
Switchyard Bus
Gen Station
Trans Trans
Unit tap-off
Unit
Tran
Gen
Trans
6.6kV Unit Bus 6.6kV Station Bus
M3
Unit Tran
loads Station
s
M1 loads
415V Station Bus
Solar Gen
M2
Note:
M1 – Main Meter
Station
M2 – Aux. Consumption Meter
loads
M3 – Check Meter
Aux. load
M1 – M2 = Net Solar Energy
solar
generated
EXHIBIT - I thermal

ii) Solar power connected to plant 11/ 6.6kV unit/ station bus (Option-II)
In this option, solar power will be used to meet part of the auxiliary power
consumption of the existing plant. It is preferable to connect solar power to
station bus so that it would be possible to evacuate solar power in the event
of tripping of one of the units. An auxiliary transformer would be required to
match the solar power with the voltage level of the unit/ station bus. The
following aspects need to be studied before deciding for implementation of
this option:
a) Solar power should be less than the load on unit/ station bus
b) With the addition of solar generation, the fault level of the existing
switchgears will increase and the existing switchgear, bus duct etc.
may or may not be adequate to meet the new fault level.
c) Feasibility of connection from point of view of availability of space
d) Changes required in present protection scheme, logic of operation
etc.
The scheme is shown below
OPTION - II
Switchyard Bus
Gen Station
Trans Trans
Unit
Gen Trans
11/ 6.6kV Unit 11/ 6.6kV Station Bus

Bus
Unit Station
loads Trans
loads
415V Station Bus

M3
M1
Note:
M1 – Main Meter M2
M2 – Aux. Consumption Meter
M3 – Check Meter Station
M1 – M2 = Net Solar Energy loads
generated Aux. load
Solar Gen
solar
thermal
EXHIBIT - II

iii) Solar power evacuation to grid through additional switchyard bay

(Option-III)
In this option, generated voltage by solar plant will be stepped up to

switchyard voltage level through transformer and connected to the grid. No
modification/ augmentation are envisaged in the electrical system of the
plant. Since additional bay will have to be added, the availability of space in
the existing switchyard need to be studied before deciding for
implementation of this option.
The scheme is shown in Exihibit-III.
By-pass Bus
Main Bus - II
OPTION - III
Existing/ New
Main Bus - I Switchyard Bus
Note:
1) Switching schemes may be one other than
the ‘Two mains and By-pass bus’ arrangements
shown here.
2) M1 – Main Meter
3) M2 – Aux. Consumption Meter
4) M3 – Check Meter
5) M1 – M2 = Net Solar Energy generated
415V Station Bus (Existing plant)
Trans
M3
M2
Station
loads
M1
Aux. load
solar
thermal
Solar Gen EXHIBIT - III
Auxiliary Power requirement of Solar Thermal Plant
4.18 Solar thermal plant requires auxiliary power of about 8% when solar plant
is in operation and about 1% during off sun hours. Besides, solar thermal
plant will daily require start up power. It is preferred to tap off feeder from

existing station switchgear for auxiliary power/start up power requirement

of solar plant at required voltage level.
Electrical Interconnection between Solar PV system and conventional

Stations
4.19 Generally, in an existing plant vacant space is available in scattered areas

and also on the roof-top of buildings. In case the space available is
shadow free, independent Solar Photovoltaic system may be installed to
generate electricity and power may be fed into the respective switchgear
nearby at 3 ph 415V or higher voltage levels. SPV output of the inverter
shall be synchronized automatically to the exact AC voltage and frequency
of the system. Typical schematic diagram is illustrated the sketch below:
SOLAR PV SYSTEM (SPV)
SWITCHGEAR
SW
Load
SW - Manual lockable
switch M1 - Solar Energy
M1 Meter
S
Notes:
Normally solar PV system is
Inverter tied with switchgear. In case
of failure, switch ‘S’ in
inverter will open
automatically within 20 - 30
Solar PV Array msec.
Following suggested criteria shall be considered for selection of voltage

level of Solar PV system:
i. Up to 10kW solar PV system : 1 phase, 240V supply

ii. Above 10kW and upto 100kW solar PV system,: 3 phase, 415V supply
iii. Above 100kW and upto 1.5MW: 6.6/ 11kV level.
iv. Above 1.5MW and upto 5 MW: 11/ 33/ 66kV level or as per the site
condition

For further details regarding connectivity of solar PV systems, Report of

Sub-Group-I on “Grid interactive rooftop solar PV systems” “may be
referred.
Metering
4.20 As shown in the Exihibits I-III above, three nos. meters shall be provided
– two (one main meter and one check meter) for metering solar energy
generated and another for auxiliary power consumed by the solar thermal
plant. Tariff for solar generation shall be provided for the net energy
generated after deducting auxiliary power consumed. Meters shall
interface type complying with the requirements of CEA Regulations on
“Installation and Operation of Meters“.
5 Solar Power Plants in Hydro Power Stations

5.1 The sub-group made a visit to Bhakra hydro stations to ascertain the
feasibility of installing solar plants. It is seen that areas around the dam
have a hilly terrain with dense vegetation. Such topography is not
considered suitable for installing solar power plants. The spillway slope
could have been considered but is facing north and thus not suitable.
However depending on suitable direction, such areas could be possible
choice for installing solar plants.
5.2 Roof tops in Ganguwal and Kotla power houses and fore-bay areas
measuring about 2580 m2 were found suitable for solar PV systems.
These areas can support solar PV of about 150 kW capacity. In addition
rooftop of Nangal Dam workshop Building and vacant land near guest
house were also identified for solar PV systems. The dimensions/area
available and possible solar plant capacity are being worked out by
BBMB. BBMB also proposed to install floating solar panels on the canal
downstream of the Kotla and Ganguwal power houses. Specific studies
may be required to examine the feasibility of floating systems.
5.3 From the visit it is seen that large tract of continuous land are generally
not available in hydro stations; also the hydro stations have no facilities
for supplying warm up steam etc to solar thermal power plant. Thus solar
PV systems may only be considered for hydro stations. The possible
areas of installation could be power house roof tops, fore-bays, colony
roof tops, open grounds etc. Floating solar PV panels if found feasible
can also be considered in canals or dam areas.
5.4 For such solar PV systems in Hydro stations, Report of Sub-Group-I on

“Grid interactive rooftop solar PV systems” may be referred to.

6 Tariff Projections – CERC Regulations

6.1 CERC has notified Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Terms and
Conditions for Tariff determination from Renewable Energy Sources)
Regulations, 2009 and also issued orders for the generic tariffs for the
financial year 2009-10 for renewable energy sources including solar PV
and solar thermal based power projects. As per these orders, generic
levellised tariff has been worked out as under by CERC:
Figs (Rs./kWh)
Parameter Solar PV Solar
Thermal
Levelised Tariff 18.44 13.45
Parametric Assumptions for the above levelised tariff are given in

Appendix-IV.
7 Conclusion
7.1 The options for solar generation at any power station would depend upon
the following:
i) Adequate solar irradiation

ii) Availability of land
iii) Availability of water (for solar thermal)
7.2 Adequate direct normal component of solar irradiation is necessary for

solar thermal plants. Normally a solar irradiation (DNI) of 1800 kWh/m2 is
considered necessary for solar thermal plants. Solar PV plants can,
however, utilize global radiations including diffused component. Thus
solar irradiations available at a location is the prime consideration for
selection of technology.
About 5-7 acres/MW land is required for solar thermal plants. Thus
availability of large tract of continuous flat land would be required if solar
thermal is to be considered. Further in case solar thermal plant is
envisaged, water availability of approx. 4 m3/MWh has to be ensured.
7.3 When continuous tract of land are not available to suit solar thermal
plants, and land is available in several scattered patches, then Solar
photovoltaic plants could be considered. For hydro stations solar PV
systems would only be feasible. As a rule of thumb these plants require
about 20 m2 for each kW of installed capacity and assessment of feasible
capacity can be made based on total land/rooftop areas available.

7.4 In case of solar power plant in coal based stations, location should be
away from high dust areas like vicinity of coal and ash handling plants.
Also washing requirements of solar field/solar panels would have to be
ascertained from the suppliers.
7.5 Integration of solar thermal plants on the steam side to the existing
station is a cumbersome proposition. Thus, the solar plants in existing
TPS may be considered as a stand alone plant without any inter-
connection to the steam side of the station. However, integrated solar
plants with conventional gas based plants could be considered for new
stations depending on site specific factors for which site specific techno-
economics and feasibility studies would be required.
7.6 Various options available for integration of solar thermal power with
electrical system of existing gas based plant have been discussed in the
report and as brought out, electrical integration with the option of
additional switch yard bay comes out to be the most suitable amongst all
the options. However, site specific studies are required regarding the
interconnection before finalizing the scheme.
7.7 Considering the high tariff of solar power, two meters (one main and one
check meter) may be provided for solar electricity generated. Suitable
metering arrangements would also be required for measurement of
auxiliary power consumption of the solar thermal plant from the existing
station electric supply.
7.8 All thermal and hydro generating utilities should explore the potential of
installing solar plants in vacant land of their existing stations. Detailed Project
Report for the specific project would be required to be developed by a
consultant to study the feasibility of the solar power plant, technology to
be employed, generation projections, cost estimates etc. A brief
summary of Feasibility Study for Solar Thermal Plant in NTPC -Anta
CCGT station is enclosed at Appendix-II for reference.
***

Annexure-I composition of subgroup


APPENDICES
Appendix –I Solar Maps
Appendix-II Excerpts from Feasibility Study for Solar Thermal Plant in NTPC -
Anta CCGT station
Appendix-III Salient features of 140 MW Integrated Solar Combined Cycle Power

Plant
Appendix –IV Assumptions for generic levelised tariff for solar power plants as per
CERC
Central Electricity Authority January-2010

Appendix-I Solar Maps
Global Solar Radiation Map of India

Source TERI


DNI Map of North- west India

Appendix-II
Feasibility Study for Solar Thermal Plant in NTPC -Anta

CCGT station
1. Anta Gas Power Plant is a Combined Cycle Power Plant (CCPP) owned
and operated by NTPC, which consists of three gas turbines of 88.7 MW
capacity each and a condensing steam turbine of 153.28 MW having a peak
load capacity of 164.14 MW. Thus, the total installed capacity is 419.38
MW. Feasibility Study for installation of solar generation at Anta CCGT
station has been done by NTPC. The study was done by Evonik Energy
Services, Germany through KFW, Germany.
2. Anta site was chosen due to good solar irradiation. The direct normal
irradiation (DNI) at Anta is 2090 kWh/m2 which is comparable with southern
part of Spain where number of solar thermal plants are under construction.
3. Anta TPS has 175 acres of vacant land on which the proposed solar plant
would be installed. Area available for solar field would be 1000 m x 700 m.
The available land at Anta is considered suitable for supporting 15 MW
solar power plant. More compact solar field is possible. However, this
would require relocating the gas pipe line which is running in the centre of
the plot and is not considered desirable by NTPC. Thus the solar field has
been divided into two parts which appropriate clearance for the pipeline.
The solar field would generate steam at 30 bar, 370 deg C.
4. Possibilities of connecting the solar plant to the existing CCGT station on

the steam side were examined but not found feasible due to fluctuating
steam output from the solar plant and large difference in the steam
parameters from the solar field and CCGT station. Hence, standalone plant
of 15 MW capacity is proposed. Such integration may, however, be possible
in new CCGT stations where initial designs itself could incorporate the
requirements of the solar integration
5. Parabolic trough technology has been chosen as several plants of this

technology are operating in California for more than 20 years. Other
technologies considered were Fresnel collector, solar tower and parabolic
dish collectors which are stated to be in demonstration phase.
6. Net solar generation of 32163 MWh per year has been estimated
considering 10% discount on DNI and plant availability of 96%. This works
out to capacity utilization factor of 24.5%. The Auxiliary load for solar plant
is estimated to be 1.7 MW when the plant is in service and 0.2 MW when
the plant is not in service
7. The water requirements are estimated as under:-
DM water consumption – 10,000 m3 per year

CW water consumption – 183,000 m3 per year

Total water consumption- 193,000 m3 per yr
Thus the total water requirement works out to be about 6m3/MWh. The
water requirement would be met from existing plant. Also adequate
provisions for cooling water system, raw water storage, DM water exist in
the existing CCGT station.
8. Various options for integrating the solar plant with the existing pant on the
electrical side were also considered. Options to connect the proposed solar
plant to the existing generator bus ducts, 6.6 KV station supply and 220 KV
Switchyard were studied. The brief findings in regard to interconnection
options are as under:-
Option-I Interconnection to existing generator bus ducts
• The fault current rating of existing IPB is exceeded.

• Layout constraints for tap-off connection to new Solar
Generator
• Load sharing between two generators of dissimilar ratings and
circulating current through their grounding system is
considered undesirable
Option-II Interconnection to 6.6 KV station supply
• The fault level with 10 MW solar generation increases to

22KA(rms), which is beyond the present capacity requiring
complete replacement of complete HT switchgear.
Option-III Interconnection to 220 kV switchyard
• Addition of one no. 220 kV bay required along with

equipments and protection.
• Modification of bus bar protection system required.
• Step up Transformer required GenV/220 kV (12.5 MVA)
Finally the option of Interconnection to 220 kV switchyard was adopted.
9. Operation and Financial parameters considered :–
Plant output 15 MW
Plant availability 96%
Total capital cost with IDC Rs. 367.5 Crores
Cost per MW Rs. 24.5 Crore
Debt : Equity ratio 70:30
Euro grant from KFW 5 million Euro
Interest rate on Kfw loan 3.5%

Interest rate on Rupee loan 12%

Repayment period Kfw loan 12 years and grace of 3
years
Foreign exchange variation Not considered
O&M cost Rs. 43.8 lakh per MW
O&M escalation factor NIL
Contingency for solar panel cost 10%
Contingency for other plant cost 5%
Levelised cost of Generation
Base case Rs.8.47 per kWh
With 5 million Euro grant Rs. 8.29 per kWh
With 5 million Euro grant + CDM Rs. 8.29 per kWh
Benefits
Base case + consultancy cost of 1 Rs. 8.63 per kWh
million Euro
10. The above study could serve as a typical reference/bench mark for
guidance. However specific studies would be required for each site to
establish the feasible solar field configurations, solar outputs, equipment
efficiency and cost of generation.
Study of Integration of Solar Power Plant with Existing CCGT Station
11. The original aim of the Anta study was to assess the feasibility and
economy of an extension by a solar collector field to increase generation
capacity of the existing steam turbine at Anta. The peak load capacity of
individual GT at Anta is 94.17 MW each and STG of 164.14 MW. Thus the
existing steam turbine had margin available for taking solar steam and this
originally led to the idea to analyze the extension of the CCPP by a solar
collector field by integrating solar generated steam into the existing CCPP
with the possibility of raising the output of the steam turbine.
12. Several potential integration concepts with variations were evaluated during
the study. The integration options considered were:-
12.1. To integrate the solar steam into the HP-drums of the existing
HRSGs
12.2. To integrate the solar steam between two super heaters of the
existing HRSGs
12.3. To integrate the solar steam of 370°C into the main steam (of
485°C) pipe via new mixing arrangement.
12.4. To superheat the solar steam of 370°C in a separate fired

superheater to bring it to 485°C before integrating it into the main
steam (of 485°C) pipe.

12.5. Solar steam to be used in a new Back-pressure Turbine

Generator and exhaust of the BPST to be mixed with LP steam at
LPT inlet.
12.6. Solar steam to be used in a new Condensing Turbine Generator

and exhaust of the CST to be connected to condenser of the
existing power plant
13. The option to integrate the solar steam into the HP-drums could not be
adopted due to the following reasons:-
• Solar steam would have required to be de-superheated to match the

steam temperature inside drum thus leading to loss in efficiency
• Solar steam piping need to be connected to each of the three drums
so that solar plant operates even when one of the gas turbine is
working. This would have involved lot of complex pipe work
• Steam would be required to be injected in each drum in proportion of
the gas turbine load needing complex control logics.
• Shut down of the entire plant for integration work would be required
leading to loss in revenue.
14. The option to integrate the solar steam between two super heaters of the
existing HRSGs was not considered in detail due to the fact that the super
heaters of the HRSGs are difficult to access for modification, A major
modification of 20 years old HRSGs was not considered desirable.
15. The option to integrate the solar steam of 370°C into the main steam (of
485°C) pipe via new mixing arrangement was considered in detail.
However it could not be adopted due to the following reasons:-
• It involved a temperature difference of around 100°C between HP

Main steam and Solar Steam and thus required special mixing
arrangement.
• Stress implications on the Steam Turbine due to frequent changes in
main steam temperature.
• Lower HP steam temperature at turbine inlet due to mixing of solar
steam would lead to higher mass flow for the turbine. Thus the
margin available in the turbine was getting further reduced.
• Due to implications on the turbine OEM consultation was felt
necessary for this option
16. The option to superheat the solar steam of 370°C in a separate fired
superheater to bring it to 485°C was considered in detail. However it could
not be adopted due to the following reasons:-
• Superheating the solar steam at 370°C in a separate fired

superheater was required to bring it to 485°C before integrating into
the main steam (at 485°C) pipe.

• Separate fired superheater would have needed supplemental heating

by gas-fired burners thus increasing gas consumption.
• Also the new gas fired superheater would have a low efficiency
compared to the CCPP.
• Also it would have been difficult to separate the electrical output from
the solar side and the conventional leading to possible problems with
the regulators.
17. Using Solar steam in a new Back-pressure Turbine Generator with exhaust
of the BPST to be mixed with LP steam at LPT inlet of existing steam
turbine involved partially unloading the GTs as otherwise the max flow rate
of LP turbine was getting exceeded.
18. Installing a new Condensing Turbine Generator for Solar steam and
connecting exhaust of the CST to condenser of the existing power plant
involved serious installation difficulties it required construction of new
pedestal close to the existing STG which might have posed be a serious
problem. Also it would not have ben possible to inject CST steam from the
new condensing turbine into the existing condenser via a new opening in
condenser neck.
19. Thus the integration options could not be considered and it was decided to
install a stand alone solar power plant of 15 MW capacity.
****

Appendix-III
Salient features of 140 MW Integrated Solar Combined

Cycle Power Plant
1. A 140 MW Integrated Solar Combined Cycle Power Plant was proposed at
Mathania Rajasthan. Salient details are given below:
Plant capacity 140 MW with solar component of 35

MW and non-solar component of 105
MW
Configuration Solar + 2 nos. GTGs + 2 nos. HRSG
+1 No. STG
Solar Plant Capacity 35 MW
Annual solar share 9% (operation without auxiliary firing
at night)
6% (operation with auxilisry firing at
night)
Solar field area 600,000 m2
Solar technology Parabolic trough
DNI (25 yr average) at site 2177 kWh/m2
Solar heat input 94.5 MW
Feed water inlet temperature 245 deg C
Live steam pressure/ temperature 105 kg /cm2, 370 deg C
Live steam flow 50 kg/S
Solar heat interconnection with The heat transfer fluid (HTF) is
CCGT cycle circulated through the solar field
where it is heated. The solar heated
HTF generates superheated steam in
heat exchangers. The superheated
steam is then fed to the high pressure
(HP) casing of steam turbine. The
spent steam is condensed in
conventional steam condenser and
returned to heat exchangers via
condensate and feed water pumps.
Provision also made for auxiliary
firing in HRSG in the evening and
night to make up for low or no
insolation.

Report of Sub-group II & III on “Integration of Solar Systems with Thermal / Hydro Power Stations
Appendix-IV
Assumptions for generic levelised tariff for solar power plants

as per CERC

Report of Sub-group II & III on “Integration of Solar Systems with Thermal / Hydro Power Stations

Solar Sgii&amp;III Report

Enviado por

Dados do documento

Descrição original:

Direitos autorais

Formatos disponíveis

Compartilhar este documento

Compartilhar ou incorporar documento

Opções de compartilhamento

Você considera este documento útil?

Este conteúdo é inapropriado?

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

Solar Sgii&amp;III Report

Enviado por

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

REPORT OF SUB-GROUP II & III

CENTRAL ELECTRICITY AUTHORITY

Sl. No. CONTENT Page No.

Annexure Annexure -1 Composition of Sub-Group 23

Appendices Appendix – I Solar Maps

Central Electricity Authority January-2010 Page 1 of 24

REPORT OF SUB-GROUP –II & III ON

Sub-group – I Grid interactive rooftop solar PV systems

i) To examine feasibility of integrating solar based plants with

Central Electricity Authority January-2010 Page 2 of 24

1.3 The composition of the sub-groups is given below:

i) Shri S. Seshadri, Member (Thermal), CEA - Chairman

i) Shri Suresh Chander, Chief Engineer (TE&TD), CEA - Chairman

1.4 Deliberations of Sub-groups –II & III

Central Electricity Authority January-2010 Page 3 of 24

2 About Solar Irradiation

Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) or solar thermal technologies can only

The DNI available at a certain site may be interpreted as “fuel-resource”

i) DLR has developed methods to derive DNI data from satellite

ii) NASA Website (http://eosweb.larc.NASA.gov/sse/) where data tables

iii) The third source of irradiation data is a software tool called

Central Electricity Authority January-2010 Page 4 of 24

surfaces and other meteorological data at any desired location with

iv) The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden

3 Solar Generation Technologies

i) Solar Photovoltaic technologies

3.2 The Solar Photovoltaic technologies convert sunlight falling on to a

The Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) technologies have been covered in detail in

3.3 In Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants, also known as Solar

These technologies are of following four types, characterised by the type

Central Electricity Authority January-2010 Page 5 of 24

Parabolic trough is well established and most proven CSP technology

Central Electricity Authority January-2010 Page 6 of 24

Spain has several solar tower systems operating or under construction.

Linear Fresnel Reflectors technology uses a reflector made of several

Central Electricity Authority January-2010 Page 7 of 24

Dish technology is modular and produces relatively small amount of

Central Electricity Authority January-2010 Page 8 of 24

TABLE-I : COMPARISON OF CSP TECHNPLOGIES

Technology Providers Sener Abengoa Austra Stirling Energy Systems

Central Electricity Authority January-2010 Page 9 of 24

4 Solar options for Power Stations

i) Adequate solar irradiation

4.2 As mentioned above, adequate direct normal component of solar

i) Land should be flat with 1-3% gradient or less.

For solar tower technology, maximum 20 MW plant is operational. This

Central Electricity Authority January-2010 Page 10 of 24

In the context of power stations, storage systems are obviously not

Possible areas of installation of solar plants

• Open land areas not intended for any future expansion

Central Electricity Authority January-2010 Page 11 of 24

- 1000x700 M2 at Anta CCGT plant of NTPC

NTPC have assessed the solar capacity of 15 MW at Anta CCGT plant in

Integration with Thermal Stations on steam side

i) 30 MWe parabolic trough field (130000 m² collector area) integrated

ii) 20 MWe parabolic trough field (183000 m² collector area) integrated

iii) 25 MWe parabolic trough field (180000 m² collector area) integrated

Central Electricity Authority January-2010 Page 12 of 24

i) Using solar steam for feed water heating

iii) Injecting solar steam directly in turbine at some intermediate stage.

Heating FW after the regenerative cycle so as to have higher than design

Mixing solar steam to Main Steam would require special mixing

Central Electricity Authority January-2010 Page 13 of 24

Solar Sgii&III Report

Solar Sgii&III Report